Family Makes Foul Discovery Inside Frozen Turkey

NBC10 ^

[Sub-Driver]

Family Makes Foul Discovery Inside Frozen Turkey Unexpected Stuffing Puts Hamper On Holiday Dinner POSTED: 7:51 AM EST November 24, 2004 UPDATED: 8:37 AM EST November 24, 2004

BRIDGETON, N.J. -- A Cumberland County, N.J., family made a shocking discovery as it was preparing for their Thanksgiving dinner.

Diane Hall and her family found a turkey head inside their frozen turkey.

"I went to pull it out and it popped out in the sink," said Hall.

At first, Hall wasn't sure what it was but her nephew, Eric Loatman, knew exactly what it was.

"I said, look, there's the head. She said, 'No, it's not.' I said, 'Yes, it is, see the eyes, nose and beak,'" said Loatman.

"It's gross, sickening," said Hall.

She checked the wrapper to see who distributed the turkey and called Heartland Foods in Minnesota.

[MaxMax]

Brains!

[punster]

"Hmm, maybe they thought the turkey originally didn't have a head."

No, it was a democrat turkey. It had its head up its butt.

[KoRn]

Yes there can. We need a senate investigation to get to the bottom of this!!

For too long 'Big Turkey' has gotten a free ride, while profiting millions on the backs of the American People. The time has come to make them accountable.

I say we create National Turkey Safety Administration. They will be the watchdog for the American people to protect us from 'Big Turkey' to make sure tragic incidents like these are kept to a minimum.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

We have had a family tradition-going back six generations-of collecting turkey heads, deep frying them, and then eating them like pop corn. A big orange container full fits the holiday spirit. They are real crunchy!

[mucrospirifer]

Sometime during the late 70s I came home from high school and needed a snack to tide me over until dinner. I heated up a Swanson fried chicken TV dinner, and began to eat. There were two regular-sized pieces, and one smaller piece. Finished with one regular-sized piece, I picked up the smaller piece and broke off a bite-sized piece.

This small piece of fried chicken turned out to be a battered and fried chicken brain.

I simply threw it away and resumed my meal. It was repulsive, but kind of cool as well.

Nowadays the proper thing to do would be to first call the media, secondly call a lawyer and sue for several hundred thousand dollars worth of mental anguish, and spend the next few years in intensive therapy.

[dila813]

eat it, that is best part

[Robe]

I'm gonna date myself here... but when I was a kid
I thought it great fun to go to the butcher shop and get a
ckicken leg.. toes and all....I'd tie a peice of thread
to the tendon and make it wave and do other thing with
it's toes...
Man that was great fun

[sasquatch]

cannabal or suicide?

[shaggy eel]

,,, it's cheaper for me to buy frozen plucked ducks with their heads and legs still on, so I do. It would be wrong for this woman to seek a discount as removal of the turkey's head has already been done. She's the beneficiary of an added value premium.

[ATCNavyRetiree]

At first I thought they had found Osama!

[lilylangtree]

Hey, a great oddity. Does it look like the Virgin Mary? Sell the thing on e-bay with its story and pic. Should make enough money like the sandwich lady.

[beckysueb]

I used to work at a turkey processing plant in Minnesota, believe it or not, but that was back in 67 or 68 so I couldn't have been the culprit. Besides my job was to get the guts out. But anyway they go through a machine with 2 rolling blades that cuts off the head. They are already dead when they get to the machine but I can't see the machine not doing its job unless it was broke down and missed one but they have a gazillion inspectors on the line before it gets packed. I can't see that many inspectors missing a head. It must have been a prank.

[beckysueb]

Good idea! President Bush can appoint John Edwards to head up this new department. I think it should be a cabinet post.

[Trajan88]

... or Hellen Thomas.

Trajan88; TAMU Class of '88; Texas A&M Aggies... beat the hell outta t.u.

[KoRn]

We can't professionalize 'Big Turkey' until we Federalize!

[VOYAGER]

In some cases packers do put giblet items inside the body cavity of the foul so the cook can add some flavor to the gravy and/or the stuffing.

Some folks skin the head, the feet and other parts(?)and cook them separatley for a side dish.

Could this be one of those tempests in a tea pot?

I hope these shocked folks did not discard the "baby with the bathwater" after all this foul probably was thankful for and proud of his head while he was alive!

A necessary item without a doubt, for the foul anyway!

[centurion316]

Out here in the country, where I live, all your basic turkeys have heads. Sometime prior to Thanksgiving, these heads are removed. This changes the status of the turkey (see Python, Monty, parrot). They are now called food and are sent to suburbia. The heads are used for other things like ice cream, tootsie rolls, and salsa.

Either way you get your head back.

[GretchenM]

We have certainly gone squeamish as our ties widen between us and the soil and the critters that sustain our lives. Not that I'd want to find a turkey head inside my turkey, but honestly I would not freak out if I did make such a find.

[dangus]

What on Earth was the family doing in Turkey when they made the discovery?

[Dubya_gal]

My approach would be to think, "Cool, I got a head too. I've never pulled a frozen turkey head out of a frozen turkey butt before." then wonder briefly what flavors the turkey head would add to a turkey broth before deciding to toss it in the trash with all the other body parts that are much grosser than heads.

But this woman's approach is much better. Alert the local news media! Tell them you have a hugh and series news story about the fact that turkeys have heads. They must've pretty bored around the newsroom today. But I like this story better than some of the sappy, heartwarming ones I've heard. Much more entertaining.